Cheers for David Obey
Okay, so I’m as anti-war as the next person. And honestly, I think we would be a lot better off if we had more of a hands-off approach to the Middle East. And I would like to see our troops withdrawn soon. But, I have been saying for quite some time now that it’s the mess we made, and now we have a responsibility to clean it up. That doesn’t mean more US troops, it means more international involvement. Once we get the world community involved, we can then start taking our troops out.
David Obey was recently caught on film yelling at an anti-war protester. Now, David Obey is from Wisconsin and has long been a good liberal. But in the video, he yells at the woman, telling her that “stupid liberals” need to understand he will always support the troops. When I first heard this story, it seemed to be presented as something Obey had done wrong, something inappropriate. I’m not sure if it’s still being spun that way. I hope not, as I view Obey’s comments to be right on.
Too often, we liberals are portrayed as weak, wimpy, little delicate flowers, incapable of surviving a strong gust of cold hard conservatism. We let our hearts bleed for each and every cause that comes our way. But David Obey completely refutes that. He also refutes that we don’t support the troops, that we would ever cut funding to them, and that we can’t deal effectively with war policy. And all he had to do was let loose on an anti-war protester.
Now, shame on me, but I haven’t had a chance to view the video repeatedly. I’ve had some trouble finding it online. But, I believe the scenario goes something like this. An anti-war protester comes to Obey asking him to vote against funding for the war. Perhaps there was some badgering, perhaps Obey was merely annoyed, but he tells the woman, in no uncertain terms, that stupid liberals need to learn he will never cut funding for the troops. And that was all it took. With that simple statement, unrehearsed and unscripted (I think), David Obey does what President Bush can’t, he told the truth from his heart.
And thanks to the wonders of YouTube, the video swept the airwaves. Proof that Obey means what he says. Proof that liberals can be something more than a bunch of peaceniks. And proof, once again, that the Democrats have the right vision for America. Sure, there may be some squabbling among members about what is the best path forward. But while Democrats align on these issues, Republicans struggle to find a voice outside of their scandels (Scooter Libby, firing of US Attorneys).
So three cheers for David Obey, a hero for the left!
In other news, I had a nice long weekend with Lauren. We both took Monday off for some much needed relaxation time. The last day I had taken off was after Christmas, and the last long weekend we had had was New Years. On Saturday, we headed down to Illinois to do some shopping at Ikea. After finally making it there after some terrible Illinois traffic (when it’s it terrible, what with all those stupid tolls), we had some excellent shopping. I bought a small table with four chairs for my apartment. It will be nice to have something to eat on, work at, et cetera. It’s still in my car, waiting to be hauled up here and assembled, but that will happen. We also went over to Woodfield Mall, a huge place with a lot of nice stores. Our plans for dinner (Cheesecake Factory) fell thru as the place was packed. But we found this fabulous Indian Resturant a few blocks away and had a great meal.
On Sunday, we headed up to Oshkosh to Lauren’s grandmother’s house. A whole bunch of her family convened. It was great to meet a lot of people all at once. Her family reminds me a lot of my family, just in terms of interactions and so on. It was a lot of fun. We left there around 5 and got to walk around Ripon’s campus, where Lauren went to college. The weather was perfect, though the campus empty as it was Spring Break.
On Monday, we bummed around UW’s campus and walked on State Street, throughly exhausting ourselves in the process. Lauren also bought an iPod Nano, to go with her beautiful MacBook. So many fun toys, I’m starting to get jealous. Not that this computer is falling apart, but I think the time is approaching for some new equipment.
Anyway, so that’s about it. Thanks for reading all this. Stay tuned for next time, as you never know when more exciting things might happen in my life. Someday, something exciting may indeed happen.
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March 21st, 2007 22:30
One thing that is important to note about Dave Obey is he is chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Along with Charlie Rangell (Chair of Ways & Means), James Clyburn (Majority Whip), Stenny Hoyer (Majority Leader) and Pelosi herself, he is one of the most influential Members of the House. In short he decides which Appropriations bills are going to be considered for mark-up and thus given a chance to be referred to the floor for a house vote.
Obey is the scarriest man I’ve ever met in my life. He is known for an uncontrolable termper with constituents and staff members. (A friend was yelled at on his first day working for Obey. He answered the phone and told the congressman one of his staff members was out but asked if he would like the staffers voice mail. Aparently a question you don’t ask Dave Obey. You find the desired staffer.) It’s likely that his demonstrated angry Iraq frustration stems from the arduous cobbling together of support by democratic leadership for the Iraq War spending bill as senior Dem whip Representative Waters openly worked to defeat the measure.
After 38 years as a Blue Dog Moderate Democrat serving Northern Wisconsin’s 7th district he has earned his position as chair of appropriations. I think it’s freshman democrats like Steve Kagen (WI-8), who don’t recognize the limitations of thier influence as new members, that cannot afford arrogent or rash public displays. Dave Obey has earned that right. If we have hopes of keeping or expanding our majority in ’08 it is the Steve Kagen’s that we must keep our eyes on.